Books Received
May 2017

Listed below are books received for review over the last two months. Entries include publishing information as well as a description of the book. Unless otherwise stated, the book description is taken from the publisher’s website or the book jacket. Selected titles from this list will be chosen for a full review in forthcoming issues of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books. Previous books received are available from the links below.

The Age of Lone Wolf Terrorism, by Mark S. Hamm and Ramon Spaaij. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017. 336p.

“Lethality of lone-wolf terrorism has reached an all-time high in the United States. Isolated individuals using firearms with high-capacity magazines are committing brutally efficient killings with the aim of terrorizing others, yet there is little consensus on what connects these crimes and the motivations behind them. In The Age of Lone Wolf Terrorism, terrorism experts Mark S. Hamm and Ramón Spaaij combine criminological theory with empirical and ethnographic research to map the pathways of lone-wolf radicalization, helping with the identification of suspected behaviors and recognizing patterns of indoctrination.

Reviewing comprehensive data on these actors, including more than two hundred terrorist incidents, Hamm and Spaaij find that a combination of personal and political grievances lead lone wolves to befriend online sympathizers—whether jihadists, white supremacists, or other antigovernment extremists—and then announce their intent to commit terror when triggered. Hamm and Spaaij carefully distinguish between lone wolves and individuals radicalized within a group dynamic. This important difference is what makes this book such a significant manual for professionals seeking richer insight into the transformation of alienated individuals into armed warriors. Hamm and Spaaij conclude with an analysis of recent FBI sting operations designed to prevent lone-wolf terrorism in the United States, describing who gets targeted, strategies for luring suspects, and the ethics of arresting and prosecuting citizens.” From Publisher’s Website.

“Cops, politicians, and ordinary people are afraid of black men. The result is the Chokehold: laws and practices that treat every African American man like a thug. In this explosive new book, an African American former federal prosecutor shows that the system is working exactly the way it’s supposed to. Black men are always under watch, and police violence is widespread—all with the support of judges and politicians.

In his no-holds-barred style, Butler, whose scholarship has been featured on 60 Minutes, uses new data to demonstrate that white men commit the majority of violent crime in the United States. For example, a white woman is ten times more likely to be raped by a white male acquaintance than be the victim of a violent crime perpetrated by a black man. Butler also frankly discusses the problem of black on black violence and how to keep communities safer—without relying as much on police.

Chokehold powerfully demonstrates why current efforts to reform law enforcement will not create lasting change. Butler’s controversial recommendations about how to crash the system, and when it’s better for a black man to plead guilty—even if he’s innocent—are sure to be game-changers in the national debate about policing, criminal justice, and race relations.” From Publisher’s Website

”This important new text introduces conservation criminology as the interdisciplinary study of environmental exploitation and risks at the intersection of human and natural systems. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the book enhances understanding of the various human and organizational behaviors that pose risks to the environment, humans, and drive conservation crime. As human population growth, global market economies, climate change, deforestation, and illegal exploitation of natural resources continue to increase, academic research from numerous disciplines is needed to address these challenges.

Conservation Criminology promotes thinking about how unsustainable natural resources exploitation is a cause and a consequence of social conflict. Case studies profiled in the book demonstrate this cause and effect type situation, as well as innovative approaches for reducing risks to people and the environment. This text encourages readers to consider how humans behave in response to environmental risks and the various mechanisms that constitute effective and ineffective approaches to enforcement of wildlife crimes, including environmental and conservation policy. Case studies from the USA, Latin America, Africa, and Asia highlight corruption in conservation, global trade in electronic waste, illegal fishing, illegal logging, human-wildlife conflict, technology and space, water insecurity, wildlife disease, and wildlife poaching. Taken together, chapters expand the reader’s perspective and employ tools to understand and address environmental crimes and risks, and to provide novel empirical evidence for positive change. With established contributors providing interdisciplinary and global perspectives, this book establishes a foundation for the emerging field of conservation criminology.” From Publisher’s Website

Convicted and Condemned: The Politics and Policies of Prisoner Reentry, by Keesha M. Middlemass. New York: New York University Press, 2017. 217p.

“Through the compelling words of former prisoners, Convicted and Condemned examines the lifelong consequences of a felony conviction.

Felony convictions restrict social interactions and hinder felons’ efforts to reintegrate into society. The educational and vocational training offered in many prisons are typically not recognized by accredited educational institutions as acceptable course work or by employers as valid work experience, making it difficult for recently-released prisoners to find jobs. Families often will not or cannot allow their formerly incarcerated relatives to live with them. In many states, those with felony convictions cannot receive financial aid for further education, vote in elections, receive welfare benefits, or live in public housing. In short, they are not treated as full citizens, and every year, hundreds of thousands of people released from prison are forced to live on the margins of society.

Convicted and Condemned explores the issue of prisoner reentry from the felons’ perspective. It features the voices of formerly incarcerated felons as they attempt to reconnect with family, learn how to acclimate to society, try to secure housing, find a job, and complete a host of other important goals. By examining national housing, education and employment policies implemented at the state and local levels, Keesha Middlemass shows how the law challenges and undermines prisoner reentry and creates second-class citizens.

Even if the criminal justice system never convicted another person of a felony, millions of women and men would still have to figure out how to reenter society, essentially on their own. A sobering account of the after-effects of mass incarceration, Convicted and Condemned is a powerful exploration of how individuals, and society as a whole, suffer when a felony conviction exacts a punishment that never ends.” From Publisher’s Website

“This volume brings together a series of original contributions made by international experts dedicated to guiding efforts in preventing crime. The collection is divided into seven sections that cover cutting edge approaches to crime prevention: 1) the offenders’ perspective on crime prevention 2) crime script analysis 3) crime mapping and spatial analysis 4) social network analysis 5) agent-based modelling 6) crime-proofing legislations 7) technologies of crime prevention Each section includes one theoretical chapter to introduce the research approach followed by a series of empirical/applied contributions. The theoretical chapter aims to introduce and explain the approach of interest and discusses under which circumstances this strategy could best assist crime prevention. The objective of empirical/applied contributions is simply to showcase how these approaches can be apply. This collection can be seen as the end result of the convergence of novel ideas and analytical skills in the area of crime and crime prevention worldwide. It will be of interest to researchers in Criminology and Criminal Justice, as well as related fields like Sociology and Psychology, Security, Urban Planning, and Public Policy.” From Publisher’s Website.

“The fallout from the financial crisis of 2007-8, HSBC Suisse in 2015, and the Panama Papers in 2016 has generated calls for far more vigorous and punitive responses to tax evasion and greater international co-operation against mechanisms for giving anonymity to the ownership of property. One mechanism to ensure compliance is the use of the criminal justice system. The announcement in 2013 by the then Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, of a policy of increasing rates of prosecution for tax evasion raised squarely the issue of whether increased involvement of criminal law and criminal justice in tax evasion would be justifiable or not. The relationship between tax evasion and the proceeds of crime is taking on increasing importance: treating the ‘proceeds of criminal tax evasion’ as falling within the ‘proceeds of crime’ regime inevitably expands the scope of both.

In this book, Peter Alldridge considers the development of the offences and the relationship between tax evasion offences and other criminal offences; the relevant rules of evidence; prosecution structures, decision-making processes, and alternatives to prosecution. Specific topics include offshore evasion and the relationship of tax evasion with other crimes and aspects of the criminal justice system. A topical and lively discussion of a heated debate.” From Publisher’s Website

“This book uniquely applies theoretical approaches from criminology and sociology to the problem of corruption. Theoretical thoughts have future consequences on how we treat, punish and deter and corruption policy illustrates that theoretical approaches affect what laws and techniques are implemented. Theoretical approaches, however, are not developed in a social and political vacuum; they are a part of the changing social world and understanding why corruption occurs is a preface to developing strategies to control and prevent it.

Criminology of Corruption analyses corruption on an international scale and uses numerous case studies to help explain why individuals, organisations and states are corrupt. The book charts the development of the most relevant theoretical approaches and uses them to help explain acts of corruption and prevention. It will be of great interest to scholars researching these issues across criminology, sociology and other disciplines.” From Publisher’s Website.

“This timely book provides contributions on international, comparative crime phenomena: gangs, trafficking, fear of crime, and crime prevention. It highlights contributions originally prepared for the XVII World Congress of Criminology and for the 2015 Cybercrime Conference in Oñati, Spain which have been selected, reviewed, and adapted for inclusion in this volume.

The work features international contributors sharing the latest research and approaches from a variety of global regions. The first part examines the impact of gangs on criminal activities and violence. The second part explores illegal trafficking of people, drugs, and other illicit goods as a global phenomenon, aided by the ease of international travel, funds transfer, and communication. Finally, international approaches to crime detection prevention are presented. The work provides case studies and fieldwork that will be relevant across a variety of disciplines and a rich resource for future research.

This work is relevant for researchers in criminology and criminal justice, as well as related fields such as international and comparative law, public policy, and public health.” Publisher’s Website.

“This book investigates death after police contact in England and Wales in the twenty-first century. It examines how regulatory bodies construct accountability in such cases. Cases of death after police contact have the potential to cause deep unease in society. They highlight the unique role of the police in being legitimately able to use force whilst at the same time being expected to preserve life. People who are from Black, or Minority Ethnic backgrounds, or have mental health issues, or are dependent on substances are disproportionately more likely to die in these cases, and this emphasises the sensitive nature of many of these deaths to society.

Deaths after Police Contact examines police legitimacy and the legitimacy of police regulators in these cases. The book argues that accountability is produced by a relatively arbitrary system of regulation that investigates such deaths as individual cases, rather than attempting to learn lessons from annual trends and patterns that might prevent future deaths. It will be of great interest to scholars and upper-level students of policing and criminal justice.” From Publisher’s Website.

Deportation: The Origins of U.S. Policy, by Torrie Hester. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017. 256p.

“Before 1882, the U.S. federal government had never formally deported anyone, but that year an act of Congress made Chinese workers the first group of immigrants eligible for deportation. Over the next forty years, lawmakers and judges expanded deportable categories to include prostitutes, anarchists, the sick, and various kinds of criminals. The history of that lengthening list shaped the policy options U.S. citizens continue to live with into the present.

Deportation covers the uncertain beginnings of American deportation policy and recounts the halting and uncoordinated steps that were taken as it emerged from piecemeal actions in Congress and courtrooms across the country to become an established national policy by the 1920s. Usually viewed from within the nation, deportation policy also plays a part in geopolitics; deportees, after all, have to be sent somewhere. Studying deportations out of the United States as well as the deportation of U.S. citizens back to the United States from abroad, Torrie Hester illustrates that U.S. policy makers were part of a global trend that saw officials from nations around the world either revise older immigrant removal policies or create new ones.

A history of immigration policy in the United States and the world, Deportation chronicles the unsystematic emergence of what has become an internationally recognized legal doctrine, the far-reaching impact of which has forever altered what it means to be an immigrant and a citizen.” From Publisher’s Website.

Designing Prostitution Policy: Intention and Reality in Regulating the Sex Trade, by Hendrik Wagenaar, Helga Amesberger and Sietske Altink. Bristol, UK; Policy Press, 2017. 216p. (Distributed in U.S. by the University of Chicago Press)

“While the debate on regulating prostitution usually focuses on national policy, it is local policy measures that have the most impact on the ground. This book is the first to offer a detailed analysis of the design and implementation of prostitution policy at the local level and carefully situates local policy practices in national policy making and transnational trends in labour migration and exploitation. Based on detailed comparative research in Austria and the Netherlands, and bringing in experiences in countries such as New Zealand and Sweden, it analyses the policy instruments employed by local administrators to control prostitution and sex workers. Bridging the gap between theory and policy, emphasizing the multilevel nature of prostitution policy, while also highlighting more effective policies on prostitution, migration and labour exploitation, this unique book fills a gap in the literature on this contentious and important social issue. “ From Publisher’s Website.

“In the United States, the popular symbols of organized crime are still Depression-era figures such as Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, and Meyer Lansky—thought to be heads of giant, hierarchically organized mafias. In Double Crossed, Michael Woodiwiss challenges perpetuated myths to reveal a more disturbing reality of organized crime—one in which government officials and the wider establishment are deeply complicit.

Delving into attempts to implement policies to control organized crime in the United States, Italy, and the United Kingdom, Woodiwiss reveals little known manifestations of organized crime among the political and corporate establishment. A follow up to his 2005 Gangster Capitalism, Woodiwiss broadens and brings his argument up to the present by examining those who constructed and then benefitted from myth making. These include Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, opportunistic American politicians and officials, and, more recently, law enforcement bureaucracies led by the FBI.

Organized crime control policies now tend to legitimize repression and cover up failure. They do little to control organized crime. While the U.S. continues to export its organized crime control template to the rest of the world, opportunities for successful criminal activity proliferate at local, national, and global levels, making successful prosecutions irrelevant.” From Publisher’s Website.

Exonerated: A History of the Innocence Movement, by Robert J. Norris. New York: New York University Press, 2017. 304p.

“Documentaries like Making a Murderer, the first season of Serial, and the cause célèbre that was the West Memphis Three captured the attention of millions and focused the national discussion on wrongful convictions. This interest is warranted: more than 1,800 people have been set free in recent decades after being convicted of crimes they did not commit.

In response to these exonerations, federal and state governments have passed laws to prevent such injustices; lawyers and police have changed their practices; and advocacy organizations have multiplied across the country. Together, these activities are often referred to as the “innocence movement.” Exonerated provides the first in-depth look at the history of this movement through interviews with key leaders such as Barry Scheck and Rob Warden as well as archival and field research into the major cases that brought awareness to wrongful convictions in the United States.

Robert Norris also examines how and why the innocence movement took hold. He argues that while the innocence movement did not begin as an organized campaign, scientific, legal, and cultural developments led to a widespread understanding that new technology and renewed investigative diligence could both catch the guilty and free the innocent.

Exonerated reveals the rich background story to this complex movement.” From Publisher’s Website.

“For much of American history, the federal government has played a limited role in local police regulation. That all changed in 1994, when Congress passed a little known statute that permitted the US Attorney General to reform troubled police departments. Since then, many of the nation’s largest police departments – including those in Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Washington, DC, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Albuquerque – have been subject to federal oversight. But until recently, we’ve known little about how this federal process works. Drawing on original interviews, court documents, statistical data, and media reports, this book provides the first comprehensive account of federal intervention in American police departments. It shows that, under the right circumstances, federal intervention is uniquely effective at combating misconduct in police departments. However, federal intervention is far from perfect. This book concludes by arguing that Congress should expand and improve federal oversight of policing.” From Publishers Website.

Final Judgments: The Death Penalty in American Law and Culture, edited by Austin Sarat. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017. 225p.

“Final Judgments: The Death Penalty in American Law and Culture explores the significance and meaning of finality in capital cases. Questions addressed in this book include: how are concerns about finality reflected in the motivations and behavior of participants in the death penalty system? How does an awareness of finality shape the experience of the death penalty for those condemned to die as well as for capital punishment’s public audience? What is the meaning of time in capital cases? What are the relative weights according to finality versus the need for error correction in legal and political debates? And, how does the meaning of finality differ in capital and non-capital (LWOP) cases? Each chapter examines the idea of finality as a legal, political, and cultural fact. Final Judgments deploys various theories and perspectives to explore the death penalty’s finality.

Examines the death penalty from a range of perspectives

Fills a gap in the literature on capital punishment

Explores the idea of finality as a legal, political, and cultural fact.”

“The Handbook of Homicide presents a series of original essays by renowned authors from around the world, reflecting the latest scholarship on the nature, causes, and patterns of homicide, as well as policies and practices for its investigation and prevention.

Includes comprehensive coverage of the complex phenomenon of homicide and its various forms

Features original contributions from an esteemed team of global experts and scholars with chapters highlighting the authors’ original research

Represents the first internationally-focused collection of the latest research on the nature and causes of homicide

Covers both the causes and dynamics of homicide, as well as policies and practices intended to address it”

From Publisher’s Website

A History of the Dublin Metropolitan Police and its Colonial Legacy, by Anastasia Dukova. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. 235p.

“This book illuminates the neglected history of the Dublin Metropolitan Police – a history that has been long overshadowed by existing historiography, which has traditionally been preoccupied with the more radical aspects of Irish history. It explores the origins of the institution and highlights the Dublin Metropolitan Police’s profound influence on the colonial forces, as its legacy reached some of the furthest outposts of the British Empire. In doing so Anastasia Dukova provides much needed nuance and complexity to our understanding of Ireland as a whole, and Dublin in particular, demonstrating that it was far more than a lawless place ravaged by political and sectarian violence. Simultaneously, the book tells the story of the bobby on the beat, the policeman who made the organisation; his work and day, the conditions of service and how they affected or bettered his lot at home and abroad.” From Publisher’s Website.

“By reconsidering the definitions of human trafficking, slavery, servitude and forced labour, Vladislava Stoyanova demonstrates how, in embracing the human trafficking framework, the international community has sidelined the human rights law commitments against slavery, servitude and forced labour that in many respects provide better protection for abused migrants. Stoyanova proposes two corrective steps to this development: placing a renewed emphasis on determining the definitional scope of slavery, servitude or forced labour, and gaining a clearer understanding of states’ positive human rights obligations. This book compares anti-trafficking and human rights frameworks side-by-side and focuses its analysis on the Council of Europe’s Trafficking Convention and Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights. With innovative arguments and pertinent case studies, this book is an important contribution to the field and will appeal to students, scholars and legal practitioners interested in human rights law, migration law, criminal law and EU law.

Critiques and compares the definitions of human trafficking, slavery, servitude and forced labour by applying a case study approach

Highlights the inconsistencies and contradictions inherent in anti-trafficking and human rights frameworks operating alongside one another

Offers a detailed clarification of the applicable law which will appeal on both individual and institutional levels.”

“In this book the author examines the illegal wildlife trade from multiple perspectives: the historical context, the impact on the environment, the scope of the problem internationally, the sociocultural demand for illegal products, the legal efforts to combat it, and several case studies from inside the trade. The illegal wildlife trade has become a global criminal enterprise, following in the footsteps of drugs and weapons. Beyond the environmental impact, financial profits from the illegal wildlife trade often fund organized crime groups and violent gangs that threaten public safety and security in myriad ways.

This innovative volume covers several key questions surrounding the wildlife trade: why is there a demand for illegal wildlife products, which actors are involved in the trade, how is the business organized, and what are the harmful consequences. The author performed ethnographic fieldwork in three key markets: Russia, Morocco, and China, and has constructed a detailed picture of how the wildlife trade operates in these areas.

Conversations with informants directly involved in the illegal business ensure unique insights into this lively black market. In the course of his journey the author follows the route of the illegal wildlife trade from poor poaching areas to rich business districts where corrupt officials, legally registered companies, wildlife farms and sophisticated criminal organizations all have a share. A fascinating look inside the world of poachers, smugglers and traders. “ From Publisher’s Website

Islamophobia and Racism in America, by Erik Love. New York: New York University Press, 2017. 272p.

“Islamophobia has long been a part of the problem of racism in the United States, and it has only gotten worse in the wake of shocking terror attacks, the ongoing refugee crisis, and calls from public figures like Donald Trump for drastic action. As a result, the number of hate crimes committed against Middle Eastern Americans of all origins and religions have increased, and civil rights advocates struggle to confront this striking reality.

In Islamophobia and Racism in America, Erik Love draws on in-depth interviews with Middle Eastern American advocates. He shows that, rather than using a well-worn civil rights strategy to advance reforms to protect a community affected by racism, many advocates are choosing to bolster universal civil liberties in the United States more generally, believing that these universal protections are reliable and strong enough to deal with social prejudice. In reality, Love reveals, civil rights protections are surprisingly weak, and do not offer enough avenues for justice, change, and community reassurance in the wake of hate crimes, discrimination, and social exclusion.

A unique and timely study, Islamophobia and Racism in America wrestles with the disturbing implications of these findings for the persistence of racism—including Islamophobia—in the twenty-first century. As America becomes a “majority-minority” nation, this strategic shift in American civil rights advocacy signifies challenges in the decades ahead, making Love’s findings essential for anyone interested in the future of universal civil rights in the United States.” From Publisher’s Website

Labour Exploitation and Work-Based Harm, by Sam Scott. Bristol, UK: Policy Press. 296p. (Distributed in the U.S. by the University of Chicago Press)

“Labour exploitation is a highly topical though complex issue that has international resonance for those concerned with social justice and social welfare, but there is a lack of research available about it. This book, part of the Studies in Social Harm series, is the first to look at labour exploitation from a social harm perspective, arguing that, as a global social problem, it should be located within the broader study of work-based harm. Written by an expert in policy orientated research, he critiques existing approaches to the study of workplace exploitation, abuse and forced labour. Mapping out a new sub-discipline, this innovative book aims to shift power from employers to workers to reduce levels of labour exploitation and work-based harm. It is relevant to academics from many fields as well as legislators, policy makers, politicians, employers, union officials, activists and consumers.” From Publisher’s Website.

The Legal Thriller from Gardner to Grisham: See you in Court! By Lars Ole Sauerberg. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. 199p.

“This book offers a critically informed yet relaxed historical overview of the legal thriller, a unique contribution to crime fiction where most of the titles have been written by professionals such as lawyers and judges.

The legal thriller typically uses court trials as the suspense-creating background for presenting legal issues reflecting a wide range of concerns, from corporate conflicts to private concerns, all in a dramatic but highly informed manner. With authors primarily from the USA and the UK, the genre is one which nonetheless enjoys a global reading audience. As well as providing a survey of the legal thriller, this book takes a gender–focused approach to analyzing recently published titles within the field. It also argues for the fascination of the legal thriller both in the way its narrative pattern parallels that of an actual court trial, and by the way it reflects, frequently quite critically, the concerns of contemporary society.” From Publisher’s Website.

“In a contemporary setting of increasing social division and marginalisation, Policing Hate Crime interrogates the complexities of prejudice motivated crime and effective policing practices. Hate crime has become a barometer for contemporary police relations with vulnerable and marginalised communities. But how do police effectively lead conversations with such communities about problems arising from prejudice?

Contemporary police are expected to be active agents in the pursuit of social justice and human rights by stamping out prejudice and group-based animosity. At the same time, police have been criticised in over-policing targeted communities as potential perpetrators, as well as under-policing these same communities as victims of crime. Despite this history, the demand for impartial law enforcement requires police to change their engagement with targeted communities and kindle trust as priorities in strengthening their response to hate crime.

Drawing upon a research partnership between police and academics, this book entwines current law enforcement responses with key debates on the meaning of hate crime to explore the potential for misunderstandings of hate crime between police and communities, and illuminates ways to overcome communication difficulties. This book will be important reading for students taking courses in hate crime, as well as victimology, policing, and crime and community.” From Publisher’s Website.

Politics and History of Violence and Crime in Central America, edited by Sebastian Huhn and Hannes Warnecke-Berger. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. 330p.

“This book highlights historical explanations to and roots of present phenomena of violence, insecurity, and law enforcement in Central America. Violence and crime are among the most discussed topics in Central America today, and sensationalism and fear of crime is as present as the increase of private security, the re-militarization of law enforcement, political populism, and mano dura policies. The contributors to this volume discuss historical forms, paths, continuities, and changes of violence and its public and political discussion in the region. This book thus offers in-depth analysis of different patterns of violence, their reproduction over time, their articulation in the present, and finally their discursive mobilization.” From Publisher’s Website.

“This insightful volume integrates criminological theories, prevention science, and empirical findings to create an up-to-date survey of crime prevention research and strategies. Its interdisciplinary perspective expands on our knowledge of risk factors to isolate the malleable mechanisms that produce criminal outcomes, and can therefore be targeted for intervention. In addition, the text identifies developmental, lifespan, and social areas for effective intervention. Reviews of family-, community-, and criminal justice-based crime prevention approaches not only detail a wide gamut of successful techniques, but also provide evidence for why they succeed. And as an extra research dimension, the book’s chapters on methodological issues and challenges uncover rich possibilities for the next generation of crime prevention studies.

Included in the coverage:

Integrating criminology and prevention research

Social disorganization theory: its history and relevance to crime prevention

Research designs in crime and violence prevention

Macro- and micro-approaches to crime prevention and intervention programs

Implications of life course: approaches for prevention science

Promising avenues for prevention, including confronting sexual victimization on college campuses

Spotlighting current progress and continuing evolution of the field, Preventing Crime and Violence will enhance the work of researchers, practitioners, academicians, and policymakers in public health, prevention science, criminology, and criminal justice, as well as students interested in criminology and criminal justice.” From Publisher’s Website.

Offers the most cutting-edge, comprehensive summaries of effective interventions based on the latest research, by the foremost scholars on the topic of crime prevention in the U.S

Provides unique practical information and discussions on how to effectively replicate prevention strategies in communities and criminal-justice settings is highly relevant to students, providing them with the latest research in this area

Coverage of multiple theories of crime includes the more recent public-health and life-course developmental perspectives

Includes a comprehensive review of the increasing number of effective crime prevention interventions and the practicalities of ensuring that these programs, practices and policies are effectively implemented, both in the U.S and in other countries

Presents the most cutting-edge current and optimistic view regarding crime prevention: that it is possible to effectively reduce crime but that efforts need to start early in communities and continue through the life-course.”

“This book analyses the criminalisation of the possession of extreme pornography through ss 63-68 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. It documents the legislative history of the offence and offers a criminological perspective on the role of the media in the construction of the extreme pornography problem. It evaluates the elements of the s 63 offence and critically reflects upon their weaknesses. Moreover, the book presents an up-to-date account of the number of prosecutions initiated and convictions obtained under s 63 since it came into force, alongside an exploration into the corresponding sentencing trends.

The first study of its kind in England and Wales since the controversial legal provisions at issue came into effect in 2009, this book contributes new evidence to the application of the extreme pornography provisions and will play an important role in shaping debates on the prosecution of similar offences in the coming years. This book will serve as an invaluable resource to all those with an interest in law, criminology, sociology of deviance, sexuality and pornography studies.” From Publisher’s Website.

“Self-Selection Policing introduces and explores an approach for crime control which seeks to identify active, serious offenders by attending to the minor offences they commit. A foundation of theory and evidence is first supplied for the assertion that ‘those who do big bad things also do little bad things’. Original research presented in the book includes a study of offending by visitors to a prison, and the concurrent criminality of those committing common driving offences and failure to produce driving documents as required. It illustrates how self-selection can complement other police methods of identifying active, serious criminals by focusing on what offenders do rather than who they are and what they have done in the past. Concentrating on the ‘usual suspects’ in the conventional way is often criticised as harassment and self-selection policing largely bypasses the issue of fairness this raises.

The book concludes with a call for the consideration, development and wider adoption of the self-selection approach, and particularly the identification of other common minor offences which flag concurrent active criminality. The authors make important suggestions for the progression of SSP research and practice, including the identification of barriers to the implementation of the approach in wider police thinking, practice and policy. Practical guidance is also provided for those thinking of developing, testing and implementing the approach. In doing so, the book will be of particular interest for policing practitioners, as well as students and scholars of policing and crime control.” From Publisher’s Website.

“On Sunday afternoon, March 7, 1965, roughly six hundred peaceful demonstrators set out from Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in a double-file column to march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery. Leading the march were Hosea Williams of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and John Lewis of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Upon reaching Broad Street, the marchers turned left to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge that spanned the Alabama River. “When we reached the crest of the bridge,” recalls John Lewis, “I stopped dead still. So did Hosea. There, facing us at the bottom of the other side, stood a sea of blue-helmeted, blue-uniformed Alabama state troopers, line after line of them, dozens of battle-ready lawmen stretched from one side of U.S. Highway 80 to the other. Behind them were several dozen more armed men—Sheriff Clark’s posse—some on horseback, all wearing khaki clothing, many carrying clubs the size of baseball bats.”

The violence and horror that was about to unfold at the foot of the bridge would forever mark the day as “Bloody Sunday,” one of the pivotal moments of the civil rights movement. Alabama state troopers fell on the unarmed protestors as they crossed the bridge, beating and tear gassing them. In Selma’s Bloody Sunday, Robert A. Pratt offers a vivid account of that infamous day and the indelible triumph of black and white protest over white resistance. He explores how the march itself—and the 1965 Voting Rights Act that followed—represented a reaffirmation of the nation’s centuries-old declaration of universal equality and the fulfillment of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

Selma’s Bloody Sunday offers a fresh interpretation of the ongoing struggle by African Americans to participate freely in America’s electoral democracy. Jumping forward to the present day, Pratt uses the march as a lens through which to examine disturbing recent debates concerning who should, and who should not, be allowed to vote. Drawing on archival materials, secondary sources, and eyewitness accounts of the brave men and women who marched, this gripping account offers a brief and nuanced narrative of this critical phase of the black freedom struggle.” From Publisher’s Website.

Solitary Confinement, by David Polizzi. Bristol, UK: Policy Press, 2017. (Distributed in the U.S. by the University of Chicago Press)

“Why is solitary confinement still used in today’s world? Does it help in the rehabilitation of offenders? And how does our justification of its use affect policy? Answering these questions and posing many others, this is the first volume to consider both the developmental history of solitary confinement and the lived experience of those in confinement. Using philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s concept of embodied subjectivity, this book provides firsthand accounts of the inhumane practice of solitary confinement, deepening our appreciation of the relationship between penal strategy and its effect on human beings. David Polizzi draws on his own experiences as a psychological specialist in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and interviews conducted in connection with the Guardian‘s 6×9 project—a virtual reality solitary confinement experience—to explore what the intentional aspect of this almost uninhabitable type of imprisonment says about any democratic society that continues to justify it. Aimed at policy makers, Solitary Confinement challenges the social attitudes that uncritically condone its use.” From Publisher’s Website.

“In parts of West Africa, some babies and toddlers are considered spirit children—nonhumans sent from the forest to cause misfortune and destroy the family. These are usually deformed or ailing infants, the very young whose births coincide with tragic events, or children who display unusual abilities. In some of these cases, families seek a solution in infanticide. Many others do not.

Refusing to generalize or oversimplify, Aaron R. Denham offers an ethnographic study of the spirit child phenomenon in Northern Ghana that considers medical, economic, religious, and political realities. He examines both the motivations of the families and the structural factors that lead to infanticide, framing these within the context of global public health. At the same time, he turns the lens on Western societies and the misunderstandings that prevail in discourse about this controversial practice. Engaging the complexity of the context, local meanings, and moral worlds of those confronting a spirit child, Denham offers visceral accounts of families’ life and death decisions.” From Publisher’s Website

The Technoscientific Witness of Rape: Contentious Histories of Law, Feminism, and Forensic Science, by Andrea Quinlan. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2017. 272p.

“In 1984, the Sexual Assault Evidence Kit (SAEK) was dubbed “Ontario’s most successful rapist trap.” Since then, the kit has become the key source of evidence in the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault as well as a symbol of victims’ improved access to care and justice. Unfortunately, the SAEK has failed to live up to these promises.

The Technoscientific Witness of Rape is the first book to chart the thirty year history of the sexual assault evidence kit and its role in a criminal justice system that re-victimizes many assault victims in their quest for medical treatment and justice. Drawing on actor-network theory and feminist technology studies, Andrea Quinlan combs through sixty-two interviews with police, nurses, scientists, and lawyers, as well as archival records and legal cases to trace changes in sexual assault forensics, law, advocacy, and anti-violence activism in Ontario. Through this history Quinlan bravely and provocatively argues that the SAEK reflects and reinforces the criminal justice system’s distrust of sexual assault victims.” From Publisher’s Website.

Turning to Political Violence: The Emergence of Terrorism, by Marc Sageman. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017. 520p.

“What motivates those who commit violence in the name of political beliefs? Terrorism today is not solely the preserve of Islam, nor is it a new phenomenon. It emerges from social processes and conditions common to societies throughout modern history, and the story of its origins spans centuries, encompassing numerous radical and revolutionary movements.

Marc Sageman is a forensic psychiatrist and government counterterrorism consultant whose bestselling books Understanding Terror Networks and Leaderless Jihad provide a detailed, damning corrective to commonplace yet simplistic notions of Islamist terrorism. In a comprehensive new book, Turning to Political Violence, Sageman examines the history and theory of political violence in the West. He excavates primary sources surrounding key instances of modern political violence, looking for patterns across a range of case studies spanning the French Revolution, through late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century revolutionaries and anarchists in Russia and the United States, to the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and the start of World War I. In contrast to one-dimensional portraits of terrorist “monsters” offered by governments and media throughout history, these accounts offer complex and intricate portraits of individuals engaged in struggles with identity, injustice, and revenge who may be empowered by a sense of love and self-sacrifice.

Arguing against easy assumptions that attribute terrorism to extremist ideology, and counter to mainstream academic explanations such as rational choice theory, Sageman develops a theoretical model based on the concept of social identity. His analysis focuses on the complex dynamic between the state and disaffected citizens that leads some to disillusionment and moral outrage—and a few to mass murder. Sageman’s account offers a paradigm-shifting perspective on terrorism that yields counterintuitive implications for the ways liberal democracies can and should confront political violence.” From Publisher’s Website.

Vice Capades: Sex, Drugs, and Bowling from the Pilgrims to the Present, by Mark Stein. Lincoln, NE: Potomac Books, an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press, 2017. 304p.

“From outlawing bowling in colonial America to regulating violent video games and synthetic drugs today, Mark Stein’s Vice Capades examines the nation’s relationship with the actions, attitudes, and antics that have defined morality. This humorous and quirky history reveals that our views of vice are formed not merely by morals but by power.

While laws against nude dancing have become less restrictive, laws restricting sexual harassment have been enacted. While marijuana is no longer illegal everywhere, restrictive laws have been enacted against cigarettes. Stein examines this nation’s inconsistent moral compass and how the powers-that-be in each era determine what is or is not deemed a vice. From the Puritans who founded Massachusetts with unyielding, biblically based laws to those modern purveyors of morality who currently campaign against video game violence, Vice Capades looks at the American history we all know from a fresh and exciting perspective and shows how vice has shaped our nation, sometimes without us even knowing it.” From Publisher’s Website.

Violence and Crime in Latin America: Representations and Politics, edited by Gema Santamaria and David Carey Jr. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2017. 336p.

“According to media reports, Latin America is one of the most violent regions in the world—a distinction it held throughout the twentieth century. The authors of Violence and Crime in Latin Americacontend that perceptions and representations of violence and crime directly impact such behaviors, creating profound consequences for the political and social fabric of Latin American nations.

Written by distinguished scholars of Latin American history, sociology, anthropology, and political science, the essays in this volume range from Mexico and Argentina to Colombia and Brazil in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, addressing such issues as extralegal violence in Mexico, the myth of indigenous criminality in Guatemala, and governments’ selective blindness to violent crime in Brazil and Jamaica. The authors in this collection examine not only the social construction and political visibility of violence and crime in Latin America, but the justifications for them as well. Analytically and historically, these essays show how Latin American citizens have sanctioned criminal and violent practices and incorporated them into social relations, everyday practices, and institutional settings. At the same time, the authors explore the power struggles that inform distinctions between illegitimate versus legitimate violence

Violence and Crime in Latin Americamakes a substantive contribution to understanding a key problem facing Latin America today. In its historical depth and ethnographic reach, this original and thought-provoking volume enhances our understanding of crime and violence throughout the Western Hemisphere.” From Publisher’s Website.

“This book brings the visual dimension of environmental crimes and harms into the field of green criminology. It shows how photographic images can provide a means for eliciting narratives from people who live in polluted areas – describing in detail and from their point of view what they know, think and feel about the reality in which they find themselves living. Natali makes the argument for developing a visual approach for green criminology, with a single case-study as its central focus, revealing the importance of using photo elicitation to appreciate and enhance the reflexive and active role of social actors in the symbolic and social construction of their environmental experiences. Examining the multiple interactions between the images and the words used to describe the socio-environmental worlds in which we live, this book is a call to open the eyes of green criminology to wider and richer explorations of environmental harms and crimes. An innovative and engaging study, this text will be of particular interest to scholars of environmental crime and cultural, green and visual criminologies.” From Publisher’s Website